Céilí ; On long, dark winter nights it is still the custom in small villages for friends to collect in a house and hold what they call a “ceili” (pronounced kay’lee). Young and old are entertained by the reciters of old poems and legendary stories which deal with ancient beliefs, the doings of traditional heroes and heroines, and so on. Some sing old and new songs set to old music or new music composed in the manner of the old.